The present invention relates generally to servicing of firefighter""s turnout gear and particularly to a method for cleaning and repairing same.
Firefighters in volunteer fire departments as well as in paid industrial fire brigades wear specialized protective turnout gear when fighting fires. This turnout gear may include xe2x80x9cstructuralxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cproximityxe2x80x9d gear such as pants, coats, gloves, boots, helmets, hoods, etc. While fighting fires, dirty, harmful, and sometimes toxic substances soil and/or contaminate the turnout gear.
Contaminants can harm the firefighter and the turnout gear, in various ways. Contaminants include (1) molecules which permeate and remain within the turnout gear, and (2) visible solid particulate which remains on the turnout gear. These contaminants will likely contact the firefighter or others and many can cause disease and death.
Contaminated turnout gear is dangerous. For example, gear contaminated with hydrocarbons does not effectively reflect heat and may thereby cause heat stress in a firefighter. Turnout gear sufficiently soiled with hydrocarbons tends to readily conduct electricity and gear soiled with oil, grease, etc. may ignite, causing significant danger to the firefighter. Additionally, contaminants may damage the turnout gear itself, e.g. resulting in weakened fabrics or loose thread or seam sealing tape that may easily tear and admit contaminants.
It is known that cleaning and repair of turnout gear is possible and necessary for optimum safety to firefighters and others. The National Fire Protection Association is a non-regulatory body that establishes best practices guidelines for the fire fighting industry. In approximately February 2001, the NFPA adopted the 1851 standard. This standard prescribes routine cleaning of turnout gear at least every six months, sets forth standards for cleaning and repairing turnout gear, and recommends recordkeeping practices to document cleaning and repair of turnout gear. Such cleaning and repair is most safely and effectively accomplished by specially trained personnel using purpose-specific cleaning and repair equipment and supplies.
Unfortunately, most fire departments do not properly clean and maintain their turnout gear. This is primarily due to the length of time required to service a given set of turnout gear and the lack of properly trained servicing personnel. The necessary maintenance personnel, expensive cleaning and repair equipment and related supplies are typically not available on-site at a fire department, so it is usually necessary to send the turnout gear to a specialized servicing facility. Because there are few turnout gear servicing facilities relative to the number of fire departments, this typically involves sending the turnout gear out-of-state, having the turnout gear cleaned, dried, and repaired, and having the turnout gear sent back to the fire department and returned to service. Accordingly, it is typically necessary to take the turnout gear out of service for approximately eight (8) to ten (10) days.
Many paid firefighters work 24-hour shifts separated by 48 hour periods. Such a firefighter""s turnout gear must be cleaned and repaired within those 48 hours so it is available when needed. This is often impossible. In volunteer fire departments, in which turnout gear is often shared by more than one firefighter, the turnout gear must typically be continuously available. Accordingly, any servicing removes the turnout gear from service and risks its unavailability when needed. To minimize the amount of time that the turnout gear is unavailable, turnout gear is typically serviced less frequently than is recommended. The resulting poorly maintained turnout gear is dangerous to firefighters, as described above. Purchasing or renting additional sets of xe2x80x9cbackupxe2x80x9d turnout gear is cost prohibitive, particularly for smaller, volunteer fire departments. Accordingly, some fire departments clean the turnout gear in-house, which results in improper cleaning and contamination of cleaning equipment. Typically, fire departments do no repair their own gear in-house.
Accordingly, what is needed is a method for cleaning turnout gear that reduces the amount of time required for servicing of turnout gear and reduces the amount of time that turnout gear is out of service, and which can thereby promote more frequent servicing of turnout gear, resulting in turnout gear that is safe for firefighters.
The present invention provides a method for servicing firefighters""s turnout gear which reduces the amount of time required for servicing of turnout gear and reduces the amount of time that turnout gear is out of service, and which thereby promotes more frequent servicing of turnout gear and turnout gear that is safer for firefighters. Conceptually, the present invention includes transporting the servicing equipment to the turnout gear, rather than transporting the turnout gear to the servicing equipment.
In one embodiment, the inventive method includes the step of transporting a mobile servicing facility in proximity to a fire department facility. The mobile servicing facility carries cleaning equipment for cleaning firefighter""s turnout gear. For example, the cleaning equipment may include a cleaning machine for use with a carbon dioxide-based cleaning agent, a solvent, or laundry equipment. Optionally, the mobile servicing facility also carries repairing equipment, supplies for repairing the turnout gear, power generation equipment, and/or a record keeping, i.e. tracking, system for preparing a report of services performed on the turnout gear. The method also includes steps of operating the cleaning equipment to clean turnout gear at the fire department facility, and transporting the mobile servicing facility away from the fire department facility.